Clashes broke out inside a prison in the outskirts of Sri Lanka’s capital, killing at least 25 people and injuring more than 100, officials and a TV station reported.
Police said the unrest at the prison in Negombo, about 35km north of the capital, Colombo, began on Sunday and continued yesterday.
Spokesman Chandana Herath said there were fatalities but could not immediately confirm the toll reported by local television station Hiru.
Victims include both inmates and prison officials, the TV reported.
Prison spokesman AC Gajanayake said the violence started among inmates and when prison guards attempted to intervene yesterday, “they (inmates) started attacking the prison officials”.
He told reporters that some inmates attempted to escape but were stopped.
The clashes left several officials and inmates dead while several were hospitalised, Gajanayake said, without giving the exact numbers.
An official at the area’s main state-run hospital said more than 100 people were admitted with injuries from the prison clash.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
He did not specify the injuries.
In December 2020, rioting at another prison in Sri Lanka killed 11 inmates and wounded 117 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading the government to release hundreds of inmates from overcrowded jails.
Official data showed that prisons across Sri Lanka held 41,250 inmates as of Sunday, about four times their capacity. — Agencies
